The Murder of Kudo Shinichi
by AurelianM
Summary: What if the APTX had done what it was supposed to do and snuffed out Shinichi's death that night? Without the Silver Bullet, how can the Organization be taken down? How will Shinichi's murder ever be solved? Rewrite of The Murder of Shinichi Kudo.
1. Chapter 1

***Idk if anyone still remembers this story, but since I've made a new fanfiction account (I used to be Aeyra), I decided I wanted to repost a new version of this story and finish it this time. (since I've gotten back into the DC fandom, although, mainly just the manga and fanfiction.) Since I'm only rewriting, it'll be quicker than coming up with entirely new material. For those of you who have read this story before, please consider this a vastly improved version with a slightly changed plot to fix holes and my horrible writing. For those of you who are new, I hope you will enjoy! ***

Chapter 1

"H-Hey, stop crying already! Please!" said Shinichi, trying his best to comfort his best friend (and hopefully one day girlfriend) Ran. He did know that most people didn't see as many dead bodies as he did, but it couldn't be that bad, could it? "I mean, these kinds of things happen all the time, no need to get so worked up over it!"

"Well excuse me for not being a detective otaku like you!" sniffled Ran, a look of horror still clear on her face. She might have been the daughter of a private detective, but no person in their right mind should have been able to look at that bloody, awful crime scene without feeling even a little bit horrified. Of course, Shinichi didn't qualify as being in his right mind due to his unhealthy obsession with murders and any other mystery on the planet. "You can't think that most people would recover from that nearly as fast as you did!"

"Well, I do seem to encounter murders quite often, so I guess not," he mused, looking relieved that he has momentarily distracted Ran from sobbing her eyes out again. "But hey, I solved this one! There's no need to be scared anymore!"

"That's not the problem, baka," said Ran, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "The problem is that d-dead bodies and a-anything like that sc-sca-" She shuddered as visions of monsters and ghosts appeared in her head.

"You're the idiot. Monsters don't exist, so you shouldn't be scared of them. And once a culprit's been caught, you don't need to be scared anymore! Of course, if the culprit gets away, you should be careful, but being scared solves nothing," he replied, ending his words with an arrogant smirk. "You should grow up a bit!"

"You're the one that should grow up? Who's the one that squeals like a little kid whenever a new detective novel comes out!" retorted Ran, whose face was beginning to turn red from embarrassment and from simply being so close to Shinichi. She waited a moment for his response, but it never came. "Shinichi, what are you looking at?"

He was peering into what seemed like a shady alley, though, Ran could make out nothing in the darkness. His eyebrows were furrowed in suspicion, and his eyes glowed with trepidation and excitement, as if he had spotted a case.

"Um, it's nothing." He quickly turned away, though not without giving the alley another glance. "I'm just going to check something out. Just keep on heading home- I'll catch up with you soon!"

He then ran towards the direction of that shadowed alley, and Ran could feel her stomach knot in dread. She wanted to shout at him to come back, to stay away, but the words simply wouldn't come out. By the time she could manage to speak, he was out of earshot. She longed to chase after him, but he'd probably scold her and make her leave him alone if she did, and besides, who said he was in danger anyways? After all, he always got caught up in crazy murder cases, but always came back unscathed. Nonetheless, she could feel the fear eating away at her- how could she possibly stand still or leave?

She resolved to find the police and have them follow after Shinichi in the alley, saying she thought she saw something suspicious. After all, of there was a criminal there, the police could help arrest them and if there was nothing, as she hoped, she could just say she made a mistake. It was a good, solid plan, and yet, she still didn't feel comforted.

_I'm just imagining things,_ she told herself. _It's only my imagination..._

When Shinichi took a few steps into the alley, he snuck a quick glance back at Ran, disgruntled about the fact that she still staring in his direction with a worried expression on her face. Psh, he was Kudo Shinichi, a high school meitantei. He'd solved hundreds of cases and never got more than scratches for the trouble. What would he run into trouble now? Besides, he packed a nasty kick, and kept in shape so he could fight or run away! He wasn't as great a fighter as her, but couldn't she see there was nothing to worry about?

_Good, she's leaving_, he thought, as he saw her turn and walk away. _I don't need her messing up my investigation. I think I can hear the voice of that man in black..._

"Do you have the money?" asked the man in black, as Shinichi carefully walked forward to the end of the alley. He peeked over the edge of the wall he hid against to see the man he was tailing with a small, fat man holding a large suitcase.

"Y-yes, in here! You can count it up yourself!" answered the smaller man, voice shaky from fear. "Look!"

Shinichi bit back a gasp as the suitcase was opened up. It was packed to the bursting point with wad after wad of money. There had to be a hundred million yen in there, if not more. He grinned- his sixth sense as a detective had been right! He'd found a major blackmailing case, this was great! Fumbling around in his pockets, Shinichi pulled out a small disposable camera he had bought for the day making sure to cover the flash with his finger. He was trying his best to angle it without attracting notice when a harsh, biting voice came from behind him.

"Your detective game is over, _meitantei_." Shinichi turned around to see cold, expressionless eyes and a vicious smile, but was immediately knocked to the ground by what looked like an iron pipe. He let out a moan as he fell, feeling blood pour down his head from the blow. Drifting between unconsciousness and consciousness, he tried to get up, but the silver-haired man easily held him down with a single hand.

"A-aniki!" That was the other man in black calling, and as Shinichi saw as he ran towards them, he was holding the money-filled suitcase. "What happened?"

"This little rat saw everything." Gin took Shinichi's camera from his hand, disentangling Shinichi's fingers from the device. "I don't think he managed to take a picture, but I'll take this with us just in case."

"Should I shoot him?" Shinichi heard the sound of a gun being cocked, and he shuddered in fear. Was it really going to end this quickly? His life snuffed out in an instant, without even an explanation? What had he gotten himself into?

"No, those police pigs are still around because of that murder earlier. I've got a better method, anyways. Sherry's been needing a human guinea pig for long enough." The click of a case being opened called Shinichi's attention, and he stared out of the corner of his eyes at a small container filled with small red and white pills. "The perfect poison. No police examiner will even find out what killed him. Open wide, meitantei."

Shinichi clamped his mouth shut at the words, willing for some kind of miracle to happen. Now that he knew he was so close to dying, he knew that he had been stupid, foolish, to walk into this alley alone. Why hadn't he at least found an officer to come with him? Been more careful while watching his back? _Because I thought I was invincible…_ he thought, regretting his arrogance and foolishness with every last breath. _I thought I'd always be solving murders… I never thought I could possibly be the victim of one._

The silver-haired man pried his mouth open, dropping in a pill as well as pouring a vial of water into his mouth while holding his nose to keep him from breathing. Faced with asphyxiation or poison, Shinichi's body instinctively swallowed, bringing the poison along with it. He could feel it the moment it entered his body. It was if he had caught on fire, as if there were knives being stabbed into every square inch of his body, as if he were drowning, and he knew that there was no miracle that could save him now. He was about to die. He almost wanted to die, just to be rid of this unbearable pain.

He wondered how he could still hear the two men talking, wondered how he couldn't even manage a scream, and then realized that the silver-haired man was holding a hand over his mouth, a glove on his hand, to keep him from making noise. "Looks like it's very painful. We'll find out if its detectable by tomorrow morning. Good thing we got such a famous meitantei as a test subject- this'll make headlines."

"I think he went in here," said a voice, and Shinichi's eyes widened in shock, recognizing that voice even through the haze of the torture he was going through. Ran? _No, no, no, no!_ She couldn't be pulled into this with him. At the very least, not Ran, not Ran….

"Shit, someone's coming. They might have the police with them," said the other man, beginning to inch away from Shinichi, looking extremely nervous. "Aniki, we should go."

"Hmph," the silver-haired man snorted, though, he got up nonetheless. Shinichi tried to yell once the hand was removed from over his mouth, but he found that he was now too weak to even make a sound. "Good bye then, Kudo Shinichi."

The last thing Shinichi saw was that evil grin, the grin of a man who had killed dozens of people and enjoyed every murder, who enjoyed watching Shinichi struggle as he slowly succumbed to death. But he didn't want his last thoughts to be of hatred, not when he had a greater regret left. _I just wish I had the chance to say goodbye…_

***Chapters will be posted as I finish them. I've had beta readers before, but I feel as though it gets too slow if I have to pass each chapter through a beta. I'll mainly spell-check and fix up chapters as I finish them. If you see any glaring errors, please tell me so I can fix it. ^^ Feel free to leave me a review telling me what you thought. Aurey out!***


	2. Chapter 2

***I'm glad you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I actually have up to Chapter 4 completed, but I want to stagger everything because I have a bad habit of falling behind when school starts. Which is like... in a week? For those of you who have read the old version, I'm changing a few details around so it reads better, but it should still be the same story. I'll reply to any reviews with questions in a PM, but for everyone who reviewed, thank you! ^^ I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well.***

Chapter 2

"So, Ran-kun, you're worried Shinichi-kun might be in trouble?" asked Inspector Megure, a troubled look on his face as he stared at the panting girl. "What happened?"

"I-I had a bad feeling about it. He walked off towards some kind of alley, and I think he might have found a case or something. He's alone, so if he was attacked, or something-" Ran's voice was filled with worry, and it was cracking left and right as she tried to keep from crying. Why was she overreacting so much? She couldn't remember ever having been this worried every time Shinichi disappeared for a case.

"Don't worry, I'll check it out with you," comforted Inspector Megure, patting her on the back. "I'm sure Shinichi-kun's fine though."

"T-thank you. I'm glad you were still here, I was worried all the police had already left," said Ran, beginning to lead the way back to where Shinichi had left her. "I'm sure he's fine too, it's just…" _It's just that I feel something's wrong, like… like Shinichi's never coming back._

"I understand. Now where is this alley?"

It only took Ran a few minutes to relocate it. She was thankful that Inspector megure had been so close. She had run into him out of chance while running towards the nearest police station, and was so glad that he was an officer she knew and trusted. "I think he went in here," she said, pointing to the shadowed alley only a few yards away.

"What business could he have in there?" mumbled Inspector Megure mainly to himself as he started walking down it, a flashlight in hand. Ran followed close behind, ready to knock someone out with her karate if necessary. "This place looks just right for some sort of shady activity."

Those words didn't really help Ran's nerves, seeing as she was already ready to burst out crying. It might have just been the aftereffect of the previous murder, as she usually wasn't so prone to crying, but the dread was just destroying her from the inside. "Do you really think he's okay?"

"I'd hope so," answered Inspector Megure, though as they came closer to the end of the alley, he sounded less sure. There was no noise of any suspicious activity, or of any activity at all. Perhaps Shinichi had left… chased after a criminal maybe? "Stay here," he commanded Ran as they were about to round the corner. "Just in case there's actually something going on."

Ran nodded obediently as Inspector Megure disappeared out of sight for a second. Her blood curdled when he heard him yell, "Shinichi-kun? Oy, Shinichi-kun?!"

"Shinichi?!" she cried, unable to stay back, seeing Inspector Megure shaking Shinichi, whose eyes were closed, whose face was stained with blood. He didn't look conscious, and if Ran would let herself think of the option she would say he looked, he looked… _dead_. "Shinichi?!" The tears she had been holding back let themselves fall at last.

"Ran-kun, call an ambulance. I'll call my officers," commanded Inspector Megure, taking out his cellphone and making an urgent call to his station. "This is Megure. I need officers outside of the east gate of Tropical Land, right now. There's an assault case, maybe even murder."

_Murder._ The word resounded in Ran's head, and she could find herself struggling to even dial 110. Shinichi couldn't really be dead, right? He was always so alive- always bursting with laughter, with excitement, how could he just be dead? "H-hello, I need an ambulance outside of the east gate of Tropical Land. M-my best friend, he's- he's badly hurt and he needs medical help right away!" Even though those were the words she said, she could see it from the look in Inspector Megure's sad, pitying eyes, in the abnormally still way Shinichi's body lay unmoving on the ground, no breath escaping his lips. He was dead.

Ran hung up, and wanted nothing more than to hold Shinichi and cry, in the hopes that he would wake up and comfort her, tell her to stop crying just like he had a matter of minutes ago. How could life escape someone that fast? One moment alive, one moment dead, how was that fair? How could Shinichi just leave her like this?

"You can't touch him. You'll have to let the medical personnel and the police handle this," said Inspector Megure, keeping her back, though his voice sound strained and hurting. He knew Shinichi well and called the teenager any time a case seemed too tough for the police to unravel. He'd known Shinichi since he was a child, and to see him in a state like this… it was almost like seeing a son lying dead on the ground. "Please, Ran-kun."

"Shinichi…" she sobbed, collapsing onto her knees, only a foot away from him. Her tears cascaded down her cheeks, and couldn't think of anything but Shinichi's smile as he had told her he'd be right back, of the last time she'd heard his voice, of this last day spent together in Tropical Land. One murder had been enough for her today, and that had been the death of a total stranger. The death of her best friend, who'd she'd known for practically her entire life, of the boy she loved with all of her heart… "Shinichi, you giant baka…" Why did he have to run down this alley? Why didn't she stop him? He might have laughed at her, but at least he would be alive to laugh at her.

"Ran-kun, do you want me to call your father to have him pick you up from here? We'll be treating this as a crime scene, and we'll call you back tomorrow morning if we need you." _And you need someone to comfort you_. Those words went unspoken, but Ran nodded, although reluctantly. She didn't want to leave Shinichi's side, and at the same time, it was unbearable to see him simply lying there. Still. As if he had never been alive at all. "I can call him for you, if you want."

She nodded, knowing that if she tried to call her father, she'd be unintelligible through her tears. If she even tried to talk again, she probably wouldn't even be able to make a word out between her heaving sobs.

"Mouri-kun, this is Inspector Megure. Ah, it's about Ran-kun. No, she's not hurt, but…" Inspector Megure lowered his voice, but Ran could still hear him, hear the words that confirmed what she already knew. "Shinichi-kun's been found murdered. She's in great distress, and I think you should pick her up. We'll call her back once we need her. We're at the east gate of Tropical Land. Thank you."

They waited there in silence, Ran's escaping cries the only noise. Even though she was trying to hold back, to stay strong, as she knew Shinichi would want her to, she couldn't stop. Was she going to cry until she passed out from exhaustion? Her body felt as heavy as lead, and she didn't know if it was from the excitement of the day or the weight of her grief.

She heard the wailing sirens of an ambulance, and inched away from Shinichi's body, closing her eyes, willing herself to stay calm until her dad arrived. The medical staff would have to say it again, say out loud the words she didn't want to hear. She didn't think she could bear it again. Their words washed over her like gentle, rolling water- flowing, yet the individual words indistinguishable. But she knew they had said those words, as when she opened her eyes, there was no stretcher, and Shinichi's body still lay on the ground. They had to wait for the homicide team now, to tape the position in which Shinichi had been killed, take pictures of the horrible scene, and only then could they take Shinichi away. She knew well enough the process- even though she rarely was at crime scenes, Shinichi told her about them plenty of times (almost too many) while boasting about his latest crime-solving deduction.

It was another ten minutes until her father arrived. She didn't hear him, but she felt his warm hand on her shoulder, and she turned around, immediately standing and flying into his arms. He hugged her awkwardly, unsure of what to say, what he could possibly do to comfort his distraught daughter. Kogoro had always known Ran was head over heels in love with the detective brat, and although he had never approved, she knew how upset she must be right now.

"I've called Eri," he mumbled to her, trying his best not to stare at Shinichi's dead body only feet away. To see the dead body of someone he knew was chilling, and he was secretly thankful that Shinichi hadn't pulled Ran into whatever mess he ended up in. But it was too harsh a death. Even if he had been an annoying brat, he did nothing to deserve death. "She'll be home, waiting for us. Do you want to go home, Ran?"

She nodded into his shoulder, feeling at least somewhat more secure now that her father was here. He was an irresponsible, often drunken jerk most of the time, but at least he was here for her now. She stumbled as he led her back down the alley, now alight with lights set up by the police for the investigation. Her body didn't seem to want to leave, but she forced herself away, knowing, rationally, it was the best decision.

Eventually, they reached the street, where her father quickly hailed down a taxi, settling in the front so Ran could collapse into the back seat, utterly exhausted. Even though she had left the crime scene, the image of a bloodied Shinichi was still imprinted into her mind, a more terrible nightmare than any she had ever had. _If only this was just a dream…_ she wished, as she drifted into unconsciousness.

***This one's kind of short, but really, I don't want to have to drag out Ran's depression any longer than necessary. I'm trying to find a realistic, yet not annoying way for sorrow, and it's quite difficult. So please tell me if you want me to tone it down or keep it as is. The grieving cuts down significantly soon enough though, but I also want to know for future reference in case. Thank you! Please leave a review if you liked it!***


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